Tea Party Fails To Appeal To Youth Claims Survey, Weeks Before Election day

By Meena KarOct 30, (THAINDIAN NEWS) With the mid-term elections round the corner, it looks like the Tea Party has a long way to go when it comes to attracting the below 30 age group into voting or working for them. The Harvard University’s Institute of Politics revealed in a survey in late October that a mere 11% in the 18-29 category consider themselves to be a supporter of the Tea Party. The survey explains that the leaderless movement’s conservatism and favor of an earlier America is hampering with its appeal to the youth.

Agreeing with the media about the perception about the Tea Party, a grass-root activist said that a lot of young people from the world of media and eduction have an opinion about the party that they are a bunch of right wing extremists, radicals and racists. He explained that this is the biggest deterrent for them. Matt Kibbe, President of FreedomWorks which has played a big role in the development of the movement, said that the Tea Party can win over the young people by placing them in leadership roles. He explained that young leaders mean more young participation. He also said that the Tea Party was different in the sense as the members believed in fun activities and was a far cry from the typical Republican principles which drove away the youth in droves.

The race factor too plays a crucial role in the image of the Tea Party as it was observed that 85% of the registered voters are white and a mere 2% are black. The supporters themselves agreed to the fact that the major problem for the Tea Party is the perception of the youth towards it.